A fantastic trad route up a very striking line. In 2020 a large box sized section of rock fell off at the start of pitch 3. The route has been re-established with the addition of a couple of bolts in this section. All other fixed gear was replaced in 2021.
The most straightforward way to access this climb is probably to go up the gully and fixed ropes as for Echo Crack and then wander right (facing the cliff) for 130m.
Bring a standard double rack (BD 0.3-3), one BD 4 & 5 and a few very small cams. And maybe some extras in the hand range if you want to be really comfy. Don't forget wires either, this route eats them!
Start at low angled black wall with vegetated crack 130m right of Echo Crack.
25m (14) Scrubby crack to major ledge. Vegetated but mostly good gear and rock. Build belay in small alcove behind large block.
55m (17) Step left onto ramp feature from the top of the block and then follow the vegetated crack up, up forever. Belay on big choss ledge.
35m Follow bolts up wall then pace a crucial #5 & #3 cam in shallow jugs above last bolt, before traversing left to base of corner pedestal. Place a nest of micro gear here before mantling. Up long corner until you are 10-15m below the roof and build a belay at whatever stance you can find.
25m Continue up corner with hard move at mid height to roof. Traverse left under roof on good holds, passing a weird triple carrot bolt belay and a few more bolts after this. Make sure to traverse a long ways left, around the arete, and don't go up the obvious, steep, vegetated crack. Once around the arete go up to ledge and set belay.
30m (22) Good flake to blank corner with a bouldery move protected by bolts. Quest upwards with exciting gear to a small rooflet. Clip the bolt and do a hard move before stepping left into juggy corner finale. Belay off various trees.
Walk off by going straight up the obvious ridge and then heading left once you get to the next cliff tier, which is the base of spooners lookout. Scramble up the creek for a short while, keeping on the right side as much as possible. Keep veering right as the terrain allows to avoid soggy creek catchment, and you will pop out where the paved spooners lookout threeway junction is.
First free ascent: Michael Law & Kim Carrigan | |
1968 | First ascent: J.Ewbank & J.Prickard |
2 Nov 2021 |
Rock:
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22 | Assigned grade |
19M2 | A Guide to the Three Sisters - Katoomba |
22 | ★ Rockclimbs in the Upper Blue Mountains |
Although sport climbing is well entrenched as the most popular form of Blueys climbing, mixed-climbing on gear and bolts has generally been the rule over the long term. Please try to use available natural gear where possible, and do not bolt cracks or potential trad climbs. If you do the bolts may be removed.
Because of the softness of Blue Mountains sandstone, bolting should only be done by those with a solid knowledge of glue-in equipping. A recent fatality serves as a reminder that this is not an area to experiment with bolting.
If you do need to top rope, please do it through your own gear as the wear on the anchors is both difficult and expensive to maintain.
At many Blue Mountains crags, the somewhat close spacing of routes and prolific horizontal featuring means that it is easy to envisage literally hundreds of trivial linkups. By all means climb these to your hearts content but, unless it is an exceptional case due to some significant objective merit, please generally refrain from writing up linkups. A proliferation of descriptions of trivial linkups would only clutter up the guide and add confusion and will generally not add value to your fellow climbers. (If you still can't resist, consider adding a brief note to the parent route description, rather than cluttering up the guide with a whole new route entry).
If you have benefited from climbing infrastructure in NSW, please consider making a donation towards maintenance costs. The Sydney Rockclimbing Club Rebolting Fund finances the replacement of old bolts on existing climbs and the maintenance of other hardware such as fixed ropes and anchors. The SRC purchases hardware, such as bolts and glue, and distributes them to volunteer rebolters across the state of New South Wales. For more information, including donation details, visit https://sydneyrockies.org.au/rebolting/
It would be appreciated if brushing of holds and minimisation/removal of tick marks becomes part of your climbing routine. Consider bringing a water squirt bottle and mop-up rag to better remove chalk. Only use soft (hair/nylon) bristled brushes, never steel brushes.
The removal of vegetation - both from the cliff bases and the climbs - is not seen as beneficial to aesthetics of the environment nor to our access to it.
Remember, to maintain access our best approach is to 'Respect Native Habitat, Tread Softly and Leave No Trace'. Do not cut flora and keep any tracks and infrastructure as minimal as possible or risk possible closures.
For the latest access related information, or to report something of concern, visit the Australian Climbing Association NSW Blue Mountains page at https://acansw.org.au/blue-mountains/
Overall quality 65 from 8 ratings.
Author(s): Simon Carter
Date: 2019
ISBN: 9780958079082
The latest comprehensive, latest and greatest Blue Mountains Climbing Guide is here and it has more routes than you can poke a clip stick at! 3421 to be exact. You are not going to get bored.
Author(s): Simon Carter
Date: 2019
ISBN: 9780958079075
Simon Carter's "Best of the Blue" is the latest selected climbing guide book for the Blue Mountains and covers 1000 routes and 19 different climbing areas. For all the sport climbers out there, the travellers, or just anyone who doesn't want to lug around the big guide that's more than 3 times the size - cut out the riff-raff and get to the good stuff! This will pretty much cover everything you need!
Eugene Mak on ★★ Genghis Khan 22 - 8D8A2ECF-2E0B-4776-90C5-953F17D9A669.jpeg
Marnix on ★★ Genghis Khan 22 - AE83E029-F952-461D-A548-94B6DB2D7881.jpeg
Will Vidler on ★★ Genghis Khan 22 - Will Vidler on Genghis Kahn
Will Vidler on ★★ Genghis Khan 22 - Genghis Khan pitch 1
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